Author: Lawrence S. Tamarkin
Date: 21:15:05 03/29/00
This announcement from the Kasparov chess home page, is a lot of hype, but a few things certainly ring true. I particularly liked that comment, 'forged in fire by Steinitz'. Especially, that other than Shirov, Kasparov against Kramnik, will be much more interesting then him against the (currently), out-of-form Anand, who has not done well against Kasparov in the past, and is not really crushing anything of late... Funny, how the chess worlds best matches always seem to come down to being, between two K's. In this case it is V2k vs. G2k:) Kasparov to Defend World Championship Title Against Kramnik Two Million Dollars in Play in Match Scheduled for Autumn, 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At Long Last... Pending Kramnik’s expected acceptance of the terms, the two winners of Linares 2000 will face one another for the world championship title later this year. World chess champion Garry Kasparov will face his Russian compatriot Vladimir Kramnik in the most anticipated chess match-up imaginable. According to the latest calculations Kramnik has regained the world number two ranking he has long contested with India’s Viswanathan Anand. In addition to sharing first place with Kasparov in Linares - “the Wimbledon of chess,” - Kramnik is riding an undefeated streak going back to January, 1999 and is well known to be Kasparov’s toughest opponent. The duration of the match will be of 16 games, with Kasparov retaining his title in the event of an 8-8 score. The purse for the match will be two million US dollars, with $1,333,333 for the winner and $666,666 for the loser, plus $50,000 to each player for expenses. This will be the first world title match since Kasparov defeated Anand 10.5-7.5 in their 1995 match. Another Kasparov-Anand match was arranged for late 1999 before sponsorship fell through at the last instant. For this reason the offer currently being made to Kramnik was first to made to Anand. However, after a month and a half of discussions Anand decided to reject the offer, leaving the door open for Kramnik. Details about exactly how the negotiations with Anand broke down are forthcoming, but it is clear that the organizers made every attempt to contact and convince him to pick up the gauntlet. One of the match organizers spent several days in Monaco expressly to meet with Anand and his business manager/wife Aruna and was reportedly very frustrated by Anand’s apparent lack of interest in meeting and coming to an agreement. Armed with a contract lacking only Anand’s signature he eventually watched the March 24 deadline pass. Recent statements from Anand’s camp state that the proffered contract did not provide equal terms to both players. The organizers insist that it is completely impartial and provides no advantage to either side, other than the traditional draw odds allowing the incumbent champion to retain his title in case of a drawn match. The final breakdown in the negotiations was Anand’s demand for $300,000 cash in advance, despite the financial guarantees in the contract. Anand’s refusal to meet Kasparov over the board comes as a surprise when it must be considered that a victory over the world champion in such a match is all that is missing from his chess career. Questions about nerve, ambition, and the fact that Anand has not defeated Kasparov once since their 1995 match will no doubt surface again. These difficulties may have provided a golden moment for the chess world. The match between Kasparov and long-time crown prince Kramnik has been anticipated since the young Russian exploded onto the scene as a 17-year-old in 1992. He is one of the very few players in the world to have an even score against Kasparov and the clash between the champion’s aggressive tactical play and Kramnik’s positional mastery have produced many sensational battles. Kasparov would have been a prohibitive favorite to defeat Anand again, but the odds-makers will have a tougher job with Kramnik. This clash of giants will be a uniting force in the disrupted world of chess, the winner will have an undisputed claim to the chess crown that was forged in fire by Steinitz in 1886. The tradition of the chess world champion being decided in head-to-head match play between the world’s two best players will be restored and no one will question that this match is a real challenge, in every sense of the word. Garry Kasparov expressed confusion over Anand’s vacillation but sounded excited about the prospect of the long-awaited match-up against Kramnik. “Maybe this evasive action was Anand’s strongest move against me, and he had me up against the ropes with it for a while. But this result could greatly please the world of chess, in the short term with a real contest over the board and in the long term with a clear champion and a clear championship system.” More details about this system will be announced after the official match announcement, scheduled for April 5 in London, also the site tipped as the location of the match itself. Early comments make mention of a two-year World Championship Cycle involving 25 of the world’s best players, with sponsorship already guaranteed to preserve the classical tradition of match-play world champions until 2004. Full information on the coalition and sponsors that have provided the chess world with this marvelous opportunity and full coverage will be available in these pages as soon as it becomes available.
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